I haven't even read the article, but I'm willing to bet they are all wrong. The only way to do a Half-Life movie correctly is to do it like one of those filmed documentary movies (Blair Witch, Cloverfield, etc), where Freeman is the camera. And he needs to be a mute.

Ok here are my picks.... No one, no one, no one, no one, and no one. There is no good movie to be made from this franchise... only despair. What scene is possibly something you'd like to see in a movie? Gordon Freeman says nothing through out the games so much so that it feels like a little bit of a joke sometimes and I personally love that. If there is an actor interested in playing a mute scientist with no lines as a weird story happens at him? then maybe, but do we need Edward Norton for that?

Bleugh... Why on Earth (and/or Xen) would you WANT to make a Half-Life movie? A movie of the events of Half-Life, sure, but Gordon Freeman, having no expressed traits or personality, hardly even qualifies as a "character". My first thought is to tell Eli Vance's story, but then you end up losing most of what Gordon saw and did. The only way to make it work, short of shoehorning in another character, would be to make him mute. I find it amusing that whoever wrote this piece seems to think that's impossible; apparently Akkad's "The Message" was just something I hallucinated. Yes, that movie was a very different experience than the modern CGI explodapalooza that a Half-Life movie would likely be, but c'mon, you've gotta take your risks somewhere.

I'm going to just assume we're willing to overlook how terrible of an idea a Half-Life movie would be, and point out the only logical choice would be Bryan Cranston. We've already established he can play the science nerd/ badass killer. Why even consider anyone else?

Senneca:I'm going to just assume we're willing to overlook how terrible of an idea a Half-Life movie would be, and point out the only logical choice would be Bryan Cranston. We've already established he can play the science nerd/ badass killer. Why even consider anyone else?

I was just about to bemoan the lack of Bryan Cranston love, well done sir!

Seriously there'd be barely any makeup work needed with Bryan Cranston, I mean ok he may be a little too old but fuck it.

immortalfrieza:Ross Scott, the only guy in the world that could make Gordon Freeman talking sound right, and he could even look like him with a shave and a haircut.

This guy.

COMaestro:I haven't even read the article, but I'm willing to bet they are all wrong. The only way to do a Half-Life movie correctly is to do it like one of those filmed documentary movies (Blair Witch, Cloverfield, etc), where Freeman is the camera. And he needs to be a mute.

:P

Or this. Or something like this.

I always imagined (if it HAD to be done, which I really think it SHOULDN'T) a HL movie working well with Gordon being a mute. But his lack of dialogue would have to be worked in more cleverly than him just being silent. The character must be visually expressive but every time he goes to speak the audience won't hear him. Either he's drowned out by environmental noise (Black Mesa trams, explosions, etc) or someone cuts him off (in keeping with the awkward and often outright rude behaviour of a lot of the NPCs in the original). Early in the movie/story this can be played for laughs, but later on things would be too much of a panic for him to bother speaking. Gordon isn't a character who lends himself to cheesy one-liners anyway, so grim silent determination with some expressive sound fits the bill in my opinion.